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Mike Wallace's trainer: "Return has got to be pretty soon”

Mike Wallace isn’t just sitting around, and apparently he’s about to make a move.

The Steelers wide receiver, who hasn’t reported while unhappy with the $2.7 million restricted free agent tender the team put on him, may be close to breaking the stalemate.

Conditioning coach Tom Shaw, who is working with Wallace in Orlando, told Alan Robinson of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that Wallace wasn’t going to talk to reporters until he showed up at camp.

That, he said, “has got to be pretty soon. [The Steelers] aren’t just going to let him sit out there.”

So far, they have. And they signed fellow wideout Antonio Brown to a $42.5 million spite contract.

But Shaw said the money part of the equation wasn’t as much of an issue as some assume.

Shaw said Wallace’s silence was: “because he gets mad when people write things that are totally false. He doesn’t want a $100 million contract, a $50 million contract. He’s never told anybody that. He knows the Steelers aren’t talking, and he’s not talking.”

“He’s been holding out because he feels he’s given three good years to the Steelers, and you have only so much time to make money [in the NFL],” Shaw added.

The news that Wallace is “fast as lightning right now,” and staying in good condition is good news for the Steelers. But until he actually shows up and these two kiss and make up, it’s little consolation, or help for an offense that could use him.

Mike Wallace, shown here gaining yardage past 49ers Chris Culliver late last season, is training extensively in Florida and likely will report to Steelers training camp in the near future, according to the conditioning coach who has been working out the holdout receiver for the past two weeks.

Maybe a night’s worth of watching screen passes and quarterback scrambles convinced Mike Wallace he is better off catching passes in Pittsburgh than Orlando, Fla.

Wallace is training extensively in Florida and likely will report to Steelers training camp in the near future, according to the conditioning coach who has been working out the holdout receiver for the past two weeks.

“It has got to be pretty soon,” said conditioning coach Tom Shaw, contrasting reports that Wallace might not show up until well into the NFL season. “(The Steelers) aren’t just going to let him sit out there.”

Shaw, ending several weeks of silence by the Wallace camp, told the Tribune-Review on Friday that Wallace knows “it’s not a good thing to be out of camp. … The Steelers want him to come to camp. They’re a great organization.”

Wallace, a downfield receiving threat who is coming off successive 1,000-yard seasons, couldn’t negotiate a multiyear contract as a restricted free agent before training camp began July 25. When Wallace didn’t report, Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert cautioned the team wouldn’t budge from its policy of not negotiating with an absent player.

The Steelers want Wallace to sign his $2.7 million tender and report before they reopen talks with agent Bus Cook on a multiyear deal. However, if Wallace signs the tender, the Steelers could retain him by making him their franchise player next season.

“He’s been holding out because he feels he’s given three good years to the Steelers, and you have only so much time to make money (in the NFL),” Shaw said.

Two days after camp started, the Steelers gave a $42.5 million contract to receiver Antonio Brown, who has made only three career starts.

Without Wallace, the Steelers’ revamped offense moved the ball steadily but not spectacularly during a 24-23 preseason loss to the Eagles on Thursday night. Ben Roethlisberger didn’t attempt a single deep pass during a 16-play drive that started the game.

Shaw, who works with players such as Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and Steelers cornerback Ike Taylor at the Disney Wide World of Sports complex in Orlando, said Wallace isn’t talking to the media because his demands are being misrepresented.

“He gets mad when people write things that are totally false,” Shaw said. “He doesn’t want a $100 million contract, a $50 million contract. He’s never told anybody that. He knows the Steelers aren’t talking, and he’s not talking, so it gets him upset and he doesn’t want to talk (publicly).”

Wallace is working out just as if he were in camp, except for the lack of contact, Shaw said.

“He’s fast as lightning right now,” Shaw said. “He’s not going to put himself in a bad situation (conditioning-wise) so that he couldn’t play in the first game.”

While Wallace apparently hasn’t talked to the Steelers since camp began, Shaw said the receiver willingly chatted with several Pittsburgh-based youth teams who worked out at the Disney complex.

“Some people pump up guys like Tim Tebow, put him on a pedestal,” Shaw said. “But I’ve seen him walk by kids at Disney. Mike goes right to them and signs autographs. He’s a mentor to all the kids we’ve got here. He’s out there teaching them how to run routes. It’s great to see.”

Hope his frame of mind is in great shape, too. It will be welcomed news when he reports, and when his contract is worked out. It could be a great year on the O with Mike in the mix, and if we can get our young O-line ahead of the learning curve.

Narcissistic injury is the term used for any threat to a narcissist's outsized ego or self-esteem.

lol......now the trainer has to go to bat for him.
he's fast as lightning. he's catching passes. he talks to kids where that POS tebow blows them off..........
i wonder if he mentoring those kids on being team players and showing loyalty and trust to your team mates and bosses.
why is wallace working out so hard? i thought he couldnt afford to work out and potentialy get injured hurting his chance to support his family
i commend wallace for not taking his situation public, but wouldnt it be easier to just contact the organization and tell them exactly what his true intentions are? sit out until week 11, sit out all year, show up tomorrow or show up before the regular season opener etc. hell, why not make that public also?

Someone that I know that converses with players stated that Wallace will report after the 3rd preseason game. We shall see if it happens.

If that is in fact true, it would tell me just how prevalent the thought of injury is in his mind. The 3rd game is when the starters see their most action. The team would most likely not play him more than a series or two in the 4th game because there are too many guys trying to survive that last roster cut.

Ask DJ how many series it can take to get injured however. It can happen to any one of them at any point. To have that fear...or at least to have it to the point where it guides your decision-making, is a problem in my opinion. According to Shaw, Wallace understands that “it’s not a good thing to be out of camp", yet he is out of camp. He cannot negotiate a long-term contract while sitting out, so his ability to get what he wants is completely hindered. That harm is compounded by not working with his teammates in the new offense.

What in God's name could he possibly think he's achieving by staying out beyond the 3rd game?

Steelers have agreed to give him the money he wants next year when they are in a better position to afford it. So they've asked him to come back in week 11. Stay fresh and healthy and ready for the playoff run. Let Manny get some experience and we'll tear it up from week 11 on to SuperBowl #7 and into next year.

Second-year receiver Emmanuel Sanders is the latest player to hint that Mike Wallace could be reporting to the team soon. Wallace has been absent from training camp because he is unhappy with his contract situation.

"I know I'm ecstatic about him saying he's going to come back," Sanders said. "For the longest [time], we didn't know when he was going to come back. It's starting to look really good. There is light at the end of the tunnel with training camp and Mike coming back. The puzzle is starting to come together."

When asked why he feels so confident that Wallace will report and sign his $2.7 million tender, Sanders said: "That's what I'm hearing. He's staying down at Ike Taylor's house [in Orlando while training]. He and Ike talk almost every day. We don't know 100 percent if he's going to be back, but there's hope. There's a real buzz around the team that he's going to be coming back pretty soon. "